Robert Dinwiddie of England, Australia’s Daniel Gaunt and Welshman Stuart Manley are set for a battle of the nations in Royal Waterloo Golf Club as they enter the final day of the Telenet Trophy tied at the top on nine under par.
On a moving day when the much more favourable conditions were not complemented by lower scoring at the top end of the leaderboard, Northern Ireland’s Gareth Shaw produced the round of the day to join the chasing pack one shot off the leaders thanks to a six under par 65.
Manley climbed into a share of that lead courtesy of a four under 67, the fifth sub-69 round in his last seven rounds on the Challenge Tour, having finishing tied fourth at the Montecchia Golf Open presented by POLAROID two weeks ago.
It is history repeating for the 34 year old as he was also in the final group the last time he played the beautiful parkland set in the leafy suburb of Brussels.
That time, his playing partner François Calmels emerged victorious but the former Walker Cup player is feeling positive entering the final round.
“I am pretty confident,” said Manley. “I didn’t seal it on the last day the last time around but it’s just nice being in contention. I will probably be a bit more positive and aggressive and go for it more this time around.
“I played pretty solid today. I had a couple of good chances on the first two holes but missed them. I hit a great rescue at the third to about four feet to make eagle and that got me going really.
“I was unlucky to make bogey on nine but then I played great on the back nine and had some good birdies. I was expecting the leaders to pull away and have some good scores so when I looked at the leaderboard and saw I was at the top I was quite surprised.”
Gaunt, meanwhile, signed for a two under par 69 and the Melbourne-born player revealed that he is currently benefiting from some big changes in his lifestyle and his game, having given up smoking last week while also acquiring a belly-putter prior to this tournament.
“I haven’t played badly all year to be honest, even though I’ve been struggling to make cuts,” said the 34 year old. “It just makes a big difference when putts drop. I was missing two-footers for fun, I've been so frustrated. I didn’t want to make the putter change but it’s what I needed to do to build some confidence.
“It was steady today. The front nine was a bit scrappy in places but the new putter has given me a new lease of life, it’s making a hell of a difference. It’s a course I know I can handle and it would be good to get a win tomorrow and push on from here.”
Dinwiddie struggled to build on the second round 65 which handed him a share of the lead going into the weekend but he produced an impressive comeback with a two under par back nine earning him a level par round of 71 to remain at the summit.
With 12 players within three shots of the three-way lead, the home course of Nicolas Colsaerts is set for an enthralling finale and Englishman Tyrrell Hatton will enter championship Sunday brimming with confidence after five birdies in the final six holes elevated him to tied second on eight under, alongside Shaw and Portugal’s José-Filipe Lima.
